What’s Wrong With Today’s Fast Fashion Industry
Defined as clothes produced inexpensively and rapidly, fast fashion adheres to the entirely unsustainable notion that there are 52+ seasons in the fashion calendar (i.e. weekly trend changes), exacerbated all the more by the rapid TikTok cycling of fashion trends.
This mentality alone highlights why fast fashion is proving to be a large problem worldwide and across many facets of life. Everyone suffers because of fast fashion principles, from the environment and society to animals.
One of the most harmful aspects of fast fashion is the use of petrochemical textiles. Rather than using sustainable fabrics, which are admittedly more expensive, fast fashion houses opt for cheap fabrics. The problem is that these cheap fabrics are made from non-renewable fossil fuels.
In the short term, petrochemical textiles are far more demanding on essential resources like water and energy. In the long term, people and the planet suffer. This is largely because these petrochemicals are known to be toxic.
Human skin is porous, and these potentially carcinogenic toxins can be absorbed into the skin. These particles are also incredibly small and can end up in waterways, harming drinking water, mammals, and the associated food chain.
While polluting our planet, our animals, and our people, there are also ethical issues associated with fast fashion. With $468 billion of garment imports in the G20 at risk of modern slavery, equivalent to a third of goods imports in these countries, human exploitation remains a significant problem, driven in large part by the quest for big profits at the expense of people and planet.
Fast Fashion Impacting Our People, Planet, and You
Harsh on the environment
Approximately 25% of global chemical output originates from the textile industry (though not all chemicals are “bad”). An estimated 14% of global microplastic pollution comes from apparel.
A drain on critical resources
By 2030, it is estimated the fashion industry will consume resources equivalent to two Earths. Textile production is estimated to be responsible for about 20% of global clean water pollution from dyeing and finishing products.
A vessel for fossil fuels
In less than 10 years, almost three-quarters of our textiles will be produced from fossil fuels.
Perpetuating unsafe working conditions
The production of fast fashion clothing employs the use of 8,000 synthetic chemicals with workers exposed to these daily as well as surrounding communities. Working conditions within garment factories are often deplorable. The Rana Plaza disaster of 2013 is a case in point.
Is There a Way to Reduce the Impact of Fast Fashion?
Fast fashion is, in part, a response to an environment where consumers expect new products at competitive prices constantly. Therefore, in order to meet demand and turn a profit, retailers have turned to increasingly harmful measures of operation.
Consumers need to look for sustainable and ethical fashion houses to counteract this. They need brands that put the same credence on the environment, people, and animals as they do on making forward-looking, wearable and enduring wardrobe pieces. Our New Arrivals are one example of this, but we are not alone. You can explore the Good on You directory for thousands of brand ratings, articles, and expertise on ethical and sustainable fashion.
FAQs
- Why is fast fashion considered unsustainable?
Fast fashion is considered unsustainable because it negatively impacts nearly every facet of life. Not only does it contribute to the climate crisis, but it also actively harms workers, purchasers, and animals due to its unsafe practices and drain on non-renewable resources.
- When did fast fashion start?
Fast fashion has been around since the late 1990s and early 2000s. However, with the advent of online shopping, more retailers and brands than ever before have started to buy into this notion of perpetual production at minimal monetary cost.
